runner-up for the fourth time in November 1985, he was rarely in contention for the title in subsequent tournaments, and he was also restricted by a serious knee injury suffered in a match against Konishiki in March 1987. Nonetheless, he fought as an ōzeki for 44 tournaments, which places him fifth on the all-time list, behind Chiyotaikai, Kaiō, Takanohana I and Kotoōshū. He had a long rivalry with yokozuna Chiyonofuji, whom he defeated 14 times in competition. There was a personal edge to their matches because of Hokuten'yū's younger brother, who was a low ranking member of Chiyonofuji's Kokonoe stable, but quit sumo after a training incident in 1979 for which Hokuten'yū blamed his rival. He was particularly popular among female sumo fans. Fighting style Hokuten'yū was a yotsu-sumo wrestler, preferring grappling to pushing techniques. His favourite grip on his opponent's mawashi was migi-yotsu, with his left hand outside and right hand inside his opponent's arms. His most common winning kimarite was yori-kiri, the force out. He also specialized in throws. He regularly employed both uwatenage (the overarm throw) and shitatenage (the underarm throw, which he listed as his preferred throw), as well as tsuri-dashi, the lift out. Retirement Hokuten'yū withdrew from the September 1990 tournament after suffering four losses in a row and announced his retirement from sumo at the age of 30. He opened up his own training stable, Hatachiyama-beya in 1993. The first sekitori he produced was Hakurozan in 2004. He also served as a judge in tournament matches. After suffering a stroke in March 2006, he was hospitalised. He died of cancer of the kidney in June 2006 at age 45. This left the stable or heya without a master, and all eleven of his wrestlers transferred to the Kitanoumi stable. Career record See also Glossary of sumo terms List of past sumo wrestlers List of sumo tournament top division champions List of sumo tournament top division runners-up List of ōzeki References 1960 births 2006 deaths Deaths from kidney cancer Japanese sumo wrestlers Sumo people from Hokkaido Ōzeki Deaths from cancer in Japan People from Muroran, Hokkaido